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The match between Argentina and Chile for the second round of group A of the Copa América ended with great controversy after Lautaro Martínez’s goal at the end of the match. The main referee had to wait more than two minutes for confirmation from the VAR to know if the goal was valid or not.
Despite the anger of Chilean players, fans and supporters, the goal was allowed as there was no offside by Giovani Lo Celso. With this goal, Argentina won the match and qualified for the quarter-finals.
Conmebol released this Wednesday the conversation between the main referee and the VAR referees while they analyzed the play. With the cameras and the lines they used, it is clear that the Argentine player was enabled by the Chilean defender and that Claudio Bravo was also behind him.
In the play Messi takes the corner, Lisandro Martínez hits the ball with his back and it falls to Lo Celso, who finishes with a half turn and Bravo clears it: on the rebound, Lautaro Martínez makes it 1-0.
According to the VAR audios, the linesman had seen Lo Celso’s legitimate position from the start. And then he is backed up by the lines drawn: the feet of Bravo and the Chilean defender appear behind the position of the Argentine number 16.
